Mohali: A special CBI court in Mohali on Saturday convicted 30 persons, including 14 Food Corporation of India (FCI) officials, in the 2004-05 Punjab rice procurement scam. The convicts were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment ranging from one to three years and were also fined.They were found guilty of criminal conspiracy and cheating under the IPC. The 14 FCI officials were also convicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.The scam involved a conspiracy between FCI officials and private rice millers during the 2004-05 kharif procurement season. Substandard rice was accepted as Grade-A at FCI procurement centres in Malerkotla, Sunam and Tapa, then part of Sangrur district, resulting in wrongful payments to millers and losses to the corporation.The irregularities came to light during CBI surprise checks in September 2005. Laboratory tests confirmed that the rice samples failed to meet prescribed quality standards. The CBI registered a case on Jan 7, 2006, and filed three chargesheets on Nov 28, 2008.The convictions were pronounced in three separate cases.In one of the cases related to Malerkotla, five FCI officials and five millers were convicted. FCI technical assistants Varinder Rajput, Girdari Lal and KP Singh, and assistant managers (quality control) Raunaq Ali and RN Sharma, were each sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 15,000.Millers Harish Kumar and Rajnish Kumar, partners of Shiv Shakti Rice Agro Products, and Rakesh Goyal, partner of RK Agro Tech, were each sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 25,000. Ramesh Singla, partner of Shiv Shakti Rice Agro Products, and Narinder Kumar, partner of Satkartar Rice and Agro Mills, received two years’ rigorous imprisonment and fines of Rs 20,000 each.In another case related to Sunam, three FCI officials and three millers were convicted. FCI assistant manager (quality control) RC Verma and technical assistants Som Pal Singh and KL Gulati were each sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 15,000.Kewal Krishan, partner of Mahavir Rice Mills, was sentenced to one year’s rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 10,000. Hari Ram and Jiwan Lal, partners of KC Rice Mills, were each sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 20,000.In the third case related to Tapa, six FCI officials and eight private accused linked to rice mills were convicted. FCI deputy manager (quality control) Gurmail Singh, assistant manager (quality control) RS Sirohi, and technical assistants Ramesh Kumar, Harinder Singh, Harish Kumar and Satnam Singh were each sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 15,000.Among the private accused, Budh Ram, partner of Bansal Rice Mills, Pardeep Sharma, chairman of Sukhanand Rice Udyog Samiti, and Bhushan Kumar, proprietor of Ganga Rice Mills, were each sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 20,000.Vinod Kumar, partner of Jai Jwala Rice Mills; Bharat Bhushan, secretary of Dhaliwal Rice Udyog Samiti; Ashok Kumar and Surinder Kumar, partners of Luxmi Rice Mills; and Ramesh Kumar, partner of BID Rice Mills, were each sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 20,000.
